Food Guild Vision
Increased food production by island residents and commercial farms, and more cognizance of food purchasing choices.
Active Projects, get involved!
Island Poultry Resilience Collaborative - A group working to increase local chicken raising by education and equipment sharing. Join us on Thursdays at 9 AM, email the webmaster if you would like a Zoom invitation.
Food projects ideas:
1. A seed exchange (exchange seeds before the growing season).
2. Classes on seed saving (producing and preserving seed) and support any efforts to create a seed bank on the islands.
3. Plant starts exchange (trading extra plant starts at the beginning of the growing season, shortly after the Master Gardeners sale)
4. A fall/winter gardening starts exchange (at the beginning of fall: August or September).
5. Classes on canning at the Grange
6. Creating solar dehydrators
7. Create a “gleaning directory”.
8. Create a cider pressing directory.
9. Group water tank purchase and/or construction.
10. Group purchase of equipment and materials to build hoop houses (pipe bending equipment, pipe, and uv- resistant plastic) and create a yearly schedule to cooperatively prepare and erect hoop houses.
11. Support a Land link program (those with unused land contract with people that wish to farm it).
12. A dairy cooperative (families co-own a cow or goats and share the work and milk of the animal(s).
Domestic
Starting with a low of less than 2% in 2020, the residents of San Juan Island now get a much higher percentage of our food from local sources, either growing and raising it ourselves or buying from producers. Several households on the island have reached a level close to 100% local sourcing.
Transition SJI has been instrumental in this achievement through education and facilitation of connections among island households. Access to land, processing facilities, tools, soil amendments, seeds, plants and livestock were procured through the efforts of Transition SJI and its community partners.
Domestic Growers Resource Guide - click to download
Commercial
The Commercial section wishes to promote farming as viable livelihood by acting as a clearinghouse of information about programs existing on the island*; linking people with the agencies and the resources they need to farm. To make commercial farming possible to more people, we will promote affordable housing for farmers/workers and help attain agricultural land through purchase or lease.
Food Distribution
To make farming “pay off,” we will pursue ways to distribute fresh food or preserve it in a value-added form, plus work with the public to encourage buying locally to reduce fossil fuel use and eliminating unnecessary packaging.
Food Guild Blog
Food Guild Members
Bruce Robinson Roger Ellison Jane Wentworth Shann Weston Christine Chan Elaine Kendal Caren Potter Sarah Severn
Alison Longley Patty Garcia Eric Geiger Christopher Umierski Rosa Blair